Small businesses owners need technology more than ever. With a growing population of tech savvy customers always on the lookout for the newest and greatest offerings, there’s a focus on how technology can be used to grow your company and increase your profits. The good news is small businesses need to only invest a little bit of money to enjoy a huge payoff. Utilizing mobile devices is one of the biggest investments any small business can make. It allows you to compete with the big businesses in a way that was never before possible. From the way your customers will interact with you through their smartphones to how they will order their dinner, there is no end to the way you can put technology to work for you if you have a small business.
Get in Sync with Mobile Wallets
Businesses like Starbucks have started offering customers the ability to put money into an account they can use at any Starbucks or Teavana stores. They don’t have to bring money with them. All they need is their smartphone. The money is loaded onto the account and a barcode is displayed on the face of the phone. All the barista has to do is scan the face of the phone and the money is automatically deducted from the account. This is just one example of how businesses are utilizing mobile wallets, but small businesses can take advantage of it in a different way. Rather than developing a program that allows you to set up accounts for your customers, you can utilize the big companies, like PayPal, that already provide mobile wallets to their customers. All you need is the ability to tap into their mobile wallet and your customers can purchase directly from their phones.
Tap into the Buying Nature of Tablet Owners
Tablets are exploding on the scene for businesses of all sizes. If you’re a small business, you can purchase an iPad stand from companies like Shopify and utilize your tablet in a few different ways. You can use it as a cash register, or you can utilize it for customer interaction. According to CMO, many owners are so in touch with their own tablet that even a mundane activity such as watching television will not separate them from their tablet. They will divide their attention between the tablet and the television. When commercials come on, the tablet gets all the attention and it has been shown that tablet owners are shoppers who buy. The statistics are that out of 70 million tablets, 84 percent of customers shop with their tablet and 63 percent of them buy with their tablet. This means that if you have anything that includes a tablet in your business, tablet owners will automatically be drawn to it and will interact with it in fairly the same fashion they do at home. Even retail locations can get in the mix by utilizing a kiosk for customers to play with.
Provide Knowledge on Demand
One of the biggest hurdles for any store of any size is developing highly informed salespeople. Even with all the training you can muster, it’s possible to have ill-informed salespeople who mislead and disinterest the customers from buying. iPads have already been shown to be effective at increasing sales in Clinique stores by 3 percent. The reason for the increase is that the iPad has all the right information and it’s never wrong. Any of your customers can walk right up to the tablet and get the information needed to make an informed purchase. It emboldens them that they are making the right buying decision. Additionally, the iPads can offer the salespeople on the floor a useful tool to show off the products better. By including demonstration videos and more, it’s possible to provide all the information your customers want.
Even Restaurants Are Getting in the Mix
Restaurants have started to utilize iPads as a way to increase sales and make customers even happier. According to Slate, the biggest draws to having an iPad are the ability to increase order accuracy, decrease wait times for checks and entertain the guests. There is no way you could train all of the waiters to be this perfect, and now they don’t have to. The waiters can breathe easily though since the tablets are not there to replace them, just to make the process a little more enjoyable for everyone. Restaurant owners looking to cut some labor costs will be happy to know they can run their floor with fewer servers, because the duties of the server are greatly reduced and simplified. This makes the small investment into the tablets and the software a great idea.
